A personal quest to promote the use of wind energy and hydrogen technology in the Great Lakes area of the United States. The Great Lakes area is in a unique position to become an energy exporting region through these and other renewable energy technologies. *Update 2014: Just do it everywhere - Dan*

Friday, May 27, 2016

Candice Bernd, Truthout: Investors
at ExxonMobil's annual shareholders meeting rejected most of the 11
climate- and good-governance-related proposals brought forward this week
in Dallas. Climate justice activists are now pointing out the limits of
shareholder activism -- and calling for a larger movement to divest
from the company.

The
US has the potential to source 80% of its total electricity from
renewables within the next several decades, according to American Wind
Energy Association Chairman Chris Brown. To accomplish this goal, Brown
argues that wind advocates must build on the industry's current momentum
by training a future generation of like-minded individuals dedicated to
renewable energy growth and using new technology to drive down costs.
"With this new generation of talented young leaders, wind power will
cross the bridge to a clean energy future, and we will arrive on the
right side of history, where energy is cleaner, cheaper and abundant,"
he writes.

Wind
has evolved from a fledgling, grass-roots energy source into a
mainstream form of generation strongly rooted in corporate America,
writes Daniel Gross. He argues that this shift was especially apparent
at the American Wind Energy Association's WINDPOWER 2016 conference in
New Orleans, where companies traditionally associated with fossil fuels,
such as ExxonMobil, had exhibits marketing products they now produce
for the wind industry.

The
US offshore wind industry has much to gain from Europe's experience
developing its 11-gigawatt installed offshore wind capacity, according
to MHI Vestas Offshore Wind. "With over 90% of offshore installations
happening in Europe, we as an industry have 11 GW of experience to draw
upon. The US is in a tremendously advantageous position to capitalize on
the lessons learnt from projects in Europe," said Chief Sales Officer
Thomas Karst at the American Wind Energy Association's WINDPOWER 2016.

On May 17, the Energy Department announced five additional military
bases will join the Solar Ready Vets jobs training program that prepares
service members for careers in the solar industry when they leave
active duty. The Energy Department also announced plans to award $10
million through its Solar Training and Education for Professionals
(STEP) funding program, which was created to help meet the solar
industry’s growing demand for well-qualified, highly skilled installers
and other industry-related professionals.
These efforts build on the SunShot Initiative’s Solar Instructor
Training Network, which has trained 1,100 certified solar instructors
and provided hands-on solar workforce training to more than 30,000
students through the nation’s community colleges. Today the solar
industry is a leader in hiring military veterans—employing nearly 17,000
veterans to date—with the goal to employ 50,000 veterans by 2020. The
SunShot Initiative's Solar Ready Vets program trains our nation’s
skilled military service members to succeed in the solar energy industry
by teaching them how to size and install solar energy systems, safely
connect them to the grid, and comply with local building codes.
To help meet President Obama’s goal of training 75,000 solar workers
by 2020, the 10 new STEP-funded training projects will advance America’s
solar workforce by training technicians for solar careers. One awardee
under the STEP program, The Solar Foundation, will serve to support
Solar Ready Vets and the five new bases as the national administrator of
the training program. Another awardee, the Clean Energy States Alliance
of Montpelier, Vermont, will receive $568,000 to provide resources and
training for state and local government officials on how to ensure
inclusive participation in the solar economy. And Elevate Energy of
Chicago, Illinois, will receive $445,027 to educate residential real
estate agents, appraisers, and related regulatory officials about solar
energy systems through web-based, continuing education classes. See the Energy Department news release for a full list of awardees.

The Energy Department on May 18 released the On the Path to SunShot reports,
a series of eight research papers examining the state of the U.S. solar
energy industry and progress toward the SunShot Initiative’s goal to
make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by
2020.
The United States has over 10 times more solar capacity installed
today compared to when the SunShot Initiative was launched in 2011, and
the overall costs of solar have dropped by 65%. The solar industry is
currently about 70% of the way toward achieving the Initiative’s 2020
goals.
The new reports explore the lessons learned in the first five years
of the 10-year Initiative and identify key research, development, and
market opportunities that can help to ensure that solar energy
technologies are widely affordable and available to power millions more
American homes and businesses. The SunShot Initiative was created with
the goal to reduce the cost of solar energy technologies by 75% within a
decade across the residential, commercial, and utility-scale sectors.
A recurring theme in the studies is that sustained innovation across
all levels of the industry—from cell efficiency improvements, to faster
and cheaper installation methods—will help to achieve the Energy
Department’s SunShot goals. The On the Path to SunShot series
was developed in collaboration with leading researchers from Argonne
National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories. See the Energy Department news release.

Energy Department Names City of San Francisco First Climate Action Champion for Hydrogen, Fuel Cell Technologies

The Energy Department on May 20 announced the City of San Francisco
has been selected as the first Climate Action Champion to pursue
hydrogen and fuel cell technologies for local transportation. In
addition, Strategic Analysis, Inc., of Arlington, Virginia, will analyze
the cost competitiveness for various hydrogen and fuel cell
technologies, including those used in hydrogen infrastructure relevant
to San Francisco and other projects.
The nearly $4.75 million in funding for both efforts will go toward
the development of education and outreach programs to increase the
deployment of fuel cell electric vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure,
as well as provide detailed cost analyses for hydrogen fuel cell
systems, hydrogen storage, and hydrogen production and delivery
technologies.
In December of 2014, the White House launched the Climate Action
Champions Initiative and announced 16 communities from around the
country, including the City of San Francisco, as the first class of
Climate Action Champions. These communities were recognized for their
strong commitment to lowering greenhouse gas emissions and the fight
against climate change. See the Energy Department news release.

The third edition of the Energy Department’s EcoCAR competition is
underway, as 16 collegiate teams from across North America redesign the
2016 Chevrolet Camaro to reduce its environmental impact while
maintaining the performance expected from the iconic American car. Teams
participating in EcoCAR 3 have been working on re-engineering their
Camaros since receiving them earlier this year, and they are currently
putting their work to the test at this year’s competition.
The 2016 EcoCAR 3 competition, which runs through May 26, is the
first chance the teams have had to bring their vehicles together and
show them off to judges and organizers. Teams gathered from May 16-21
for the first stage of the competition in Yuma, Arizona, at the GM
Desert Proving Grounds. There, the teams’ cars underwent a series of
safety and technical inspections and qualified for on-road vehicle
testing. The competition will culminate on May 26 with an awards
ceremony honoring the winners of all judged categories and the overall
winner of the 2016 competition. For the complete story, see the EERE Blog.

It is important for the public to learn about wind development, but wind education must be based on fact, not fiction, writes NextEra Energy Resources Project Director of Development Jeremy Ferrell. More than 60 peer-reviewed studies have examined the relationship between wind development and human health without finding any adverse effects. In addition, he writes, it's been proved that wind farms can be very beneficial for the communities they're built near.

Floating offshore wind farms could pump up to $40 billion into California's economy if the industry were to deploy 16 gigawatts by 2050, according to a study released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The study, commissioned by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said that such a timeline would result in 6,500 new jobs by 2030, and 28,000 new positions by 2045. In a second 10-GW-by-2050 scenario, NREL said that the industry could add $16.2 billion to the state's economy.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy has contracted Vestas' UpWind Solutions to provide operations and maintenance services for its 1.75-gigawatt portfolio of General Electric turbines in Iowa, Wyoming and Oregon. "This is a great achievement and validates the market strength we see in UpWind Solutions," said Chris Brown, Vestas' president of sales and service operations in the US and Canada. "This partnership confirms they are the trusted fleetwide enabler of production for multi-brand customers," he added.

Massachusetts must embrace both offshore wind development and hydro sources if it wants to curb its carbon emissions 25% by 2020, writes the editorial board of The Boston Globe. Rather than pitting offshore wind and hydro against each other, lawmakers should advance legislation that opens the door for both, argues the board. "The fact of the matter is that right now only hydro can meet the state's goals on the state's timeline. But the state will need wind, too, so farsighted legislation would provide for both," it writes.

Blue Water USA has agreed to provide General Electric with hub logistics services in Rhode Island's Port of Providence as the latter works to develop the Block Island offshore wind farm. Blue Water said that it would supply heavy lifting and turbine storage services for the 30-megawatt project. The project is expected to begin operations this year.

General Electric has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop 1 gigawatt of installed wind capacity by 2025. According to the deal, GE will help the ministry identify possible opportunities for wind development. The company will then partner with local companies on project development.

Masdar, Statoil and Statkraft have secured $1.9 billion in financing for the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm off the coast of England in the North Sea. The project will have a total capacity of 402 megawatts. "Closing such a significant phase of the project's development so swiftly illustrates the energy industry's confidence in the long-term potential of offshore wind, and the increasing sophistication of financing models available to the sector," said Dudgeon Offshore Wind Chairman Halfdan Brustad.

Major cities in the US must lead the fight against climate change because they have the greatest need and potential to make a difference, according to this analysis. A study recently published in the journal Science discusses various measures to help cities overhaul the way the source electricity, including the use of small turbines and solar panels. Study co-author Daniel Kammen said that several major cities around the world are already using urban turbines.

Eighty-seven percent of 800 North Carolina voters polled by Conservatives for Clean Energy said they support renewables, like wind and solar, while 88% said they support new energy efficiency financing. Paul Shumaker, a Republican political strategist, said the poll "shows there continues to be strong support for renewable energy in North Carolina, and that's driven by the economic benefits and technology, the fact that technology is making our lives better and in a lot of ways making it cheaper."

After months of planning and anticipation, WINDPOWER 2016 starts today. And using #GenerationWind on Twitter and other social media is one of the best ways you can join the conversation. Whether you're at the conference, or admiring from far away, you can stay plugged into everything that's going on or even add your voice to what #GenerationWind means to you. Read more.

Reports show wind poised for record growth and major carbon-cutting role

Several new reports find wind energy is poised for record growth over the next several years, as utilities lock in historically low wind prices for their customers while also making a large down payment on required cuts to carbon pollution. EIA and the Bipartisan Policy Center predict that the US will roughly double its use of wind energy over the next five years, consistent with modeling released by NREL earlier this year and last year's Energy Department Wind Vision scenario of wind providing 10% of US electricity by 2020. Read more.

One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.

Shannon Alder, writer

These stories were selected and summarized by independent editors at SmartBrief Inc., not by AWEA's staff, and do not represent AWEA positions. They reflect the variety of daily coverage of American wind power.

The above links are all to the e-book versions of these chapbooks.
For paperback versions and to view a listing of all my books as they are released click
HERE: Dan Stafford's Poetic Universe

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About Me

Happily married with two grown children out on their own, I've had extensive life experience in many areas. I consider myself a Progressive, and I strive to make the world a better place for those around me and those who'll follow after us. I am an Air Force Veteran, and I have been a Telecommunications Technician since 1993, with a Vocational Diploma in Aircraft Electronics. My interests are Environmentalism, Science, Social Justice, Poetry and Music, Reading, Karate, and learning Spanish. I'm originally from Southern Wisconsin, and have lived in the Chicago Metro area (Naperville, Plainfield, & Oak Brook) since late 1997. Moved to Temecula, CA January of 2015.

Why I Publish This Blog:

"One thing that many people do not realize is that states like Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan are sitting on a gold mine of wind energy potential. Or, more properly, next to the mine. The Great Lakes are probably the area in the USA with the third largest inland wind energy potential. Think of just the nickname for Chicago. "The Windy City". Milwaukee is even windier, I can tell you. Why? Because they sit on the edge of a great flat area where there is both a land-water temperaturedifferential, and a large flat expanse of water that is comparably shallow.Oilrigs certainly operate in deeper waters. And you won't have to construct transmission lines all the way from the plains of Montana to put it to use.

The Great Lakes area has an opportunity to get the jump on wind energy's future, if that fact isrecognized and exploited. Wind energy means jobs for construction and maintenance workers, thousandsof them. Wind energy means leasing rights and extra money for family farmers struggling to make it onagriculture alone. In most cases farmers can grow crops right up to the base of a windmill. The landfootprint has a small impact on total farm acreage. Wind energy also means freedom from fluctuatingfuel prices. Wind is free. The cost of a barrel of polluting oil can be raised or lowered drasticallybased on fears or political whims. The potential gains are enormous. We've all seen the flow of goodmanufacturing jobs out of the area. Well, they can't tell the wind to blow in another country so it'smore "convenient" or cheaper to produce. The wind is perfectly happy to whip up opportunities for usright around here. Most of all, because we here in the Great Lakes region have the potential to havea huge positive impact on U.S. energy industry emissions' contribution to global warming."

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Safe, healthy, good for the economy, good for the environment, good for farmers, good for you, and just downright good produce:

I strongly encourage those seriously interested in learning about the technology, players, politics, and issues of Wind Energy to spend time browsing the
American Wind Energy Association website. They are the premier industry trade organization and have extensive resources available.
(www.awea.org)